AN: Very special thanks to Jodes!
Conversations
Emery Iris Ross took a trip down memory lane when she was thinking about her moments she had with Ashley. She smiled from time to time, stared out to nowhere and didn't even notice her mother who was asking her a question. The only thing she saw in front of her was the beautiful eyes of her boyfriend; the only thing she felt were his lips on hers and the only thing that was on her mind was he.
"Emery? Are you listening?" Carol asked once again as she noticed that her daughter was somewhere else. What was going on with her?Carol had no idea what Emery had on her mind. "Em baby? What are you thinking about?" she asked once again and smiled at her daughter. Emery finally looked up at Carol and she had no idea what her mother was talking about. "What?" she asked and looked at Carol with a furrowed brow. "Are you okay honey?" Carol asked. Emery smiled. "I'm fine", she answered and smiled at her mom. "So, where are you with your thoughts?" Carol asked again. "I…what…no, I'm here, where else", Emery smiled and tried to hide her lovingness. "So what did I tell you the last five minutes?" Carol smiled back, interested if her daughter really listened. Emery bit her lip and sighed. "Fine…I wasn't listening. Sorry", she answered and sat back. Was it already time to tell her mother about Ashley? Emery knew that she could talk to her mother about everything in the world, but having a secret relationship was kinda interesting too.
Carol of course noticed that something was on Emery's mind. Maybe it was because of school, maybe it was because of Chicago, but she was pretty sure it was about a guy. So she looked at her daughter and didn't say anything. It was time for Emery to tell her mother the truth.
Emery looked back to Carol and furrowed her brow. "So what did you say?" she asked and Carol shook her head smiling. "No, I won't tell you until you tell me what's on your mind, young lady", Carol answered and Emery rolled her eyes. "Fine mom. I was thinking about Ashley", Emery told her and closed her eyes for a moment. "And Ashley is…" Carol asked. "My boyfriend…Ashley Cohen", Emery answered. Now it was out and now the big questioning would begin. Emery sighed and leaned back again as Carol smiled from one ear to the other and took a seat. "You have a boyfriend and don't tell me about it? I'm…I'm happy for you, baby! Ashley Cohen…he's in Mason's team, right? Oh wow…now almost all my babies are in love", Carol sighed and shook her head. Emery smiled. "Mom, I wasn't sure what to say", Emery now said and looked at Carol again. "Oh baby…you know you can talk to me about everything, right? I won't bite your head off…I mean, you're old enough to know what to do and not to do", Carol told her daughter. Emery nodded. "Alright. Well yeah, Ashley is in Mason's team and I know him from history class too. He's…oh well, yeah; I always thought that he has something. And then there was the party after their last game and Ash and I talked the whole evening. Really, we talked about high school, we talked about Chicago. Then we went home together and…" Emery stopped then as she looked at her mother again. "And?" Carol asked. Emery smiled. "He kissed me…but…don't think that anything else happened that night. It was only a kiss. We didn't…well, you know…"
Carol nodded and smiled. "Em baby…don't worry about that. You're old enough to know what to do, right?" she asked and Emery nodded. "It's just…" she bit on her lip and looked at the table. "What?" Carol asked concerned. Emery sighed. "Alright. I can't deny that I want to have my first time with him", she continued. "Oh…but you're confused because you're going to Chicago soon", Carol said and then Emery smiled. "No, that's not the problem. Ashley is going to Chicago too", she told her mother and now Carol made big eyes. That was…she wasn't sure what to say. "I hope…well, I'm sure that it will happen sooner or later and…I know that I have to get through it, but…I'm kinda…I'm scared", Emery murmured and looked down again. "Oh baby…" Carol smiled a little and stroke over Emery's hand. Her daughter looked up to her again and Carol saw the little girl in her that was hurt from falling from her bike. "I really don't know if this Ashley is a good guy or a Liam type or whatever", Carol started and Emery chuckled. Liam type…that was new. "Mom…Ashley is a good guy. He's good in school, he's playing basketball and he'll study in Chicago. He's so nice…so funny. I feel that he's not after me only because he wants to have sex with me", she said and Carol nodded. "You need to decide for yourself, when the time is right. If you're really sure about Ashley, if you feel that he's serious with you, then I think you can talk about it with him. Sex is something really beautiful if it happens out of love. Don't let you force into it", Carol answered and Emery smiled a little. "He's not forcing me…actually, we never thought about it, it's just me thinking about it all the time", she chuckled and Carol nodded smiling. "Well, that party was three weeks ago? Maybe you wait a little bit longer", she said and Emery closed her eyes. "I know mom! I won't have sex with him tonight!" she stated and Carol nodded again. "I know baby…you'll know when the time is right", she answered and Emery nodded. Carol got up from her seat.
"Mom?" Emery asked again and Carol turned around to her daughter. "How is it?" Emery asked. Carol smiled a little and of course sat down again. "You wanna know about my first time?" she asked and Emery shrugged her shoulders nodding.
"Prom night…year…too long ago", Carol chuckled and Emery smiled. "We were together for about three months and yeah, I was in love with Tommy…that was his name. I really thought that he was in love with me too", Carol sighed. "Well, my mom always was skeptical but I didn't listen to her at all. Also, I didn't have a dad who asked Tommy thousands of awkward questions. I was naïve. I did what Tommy wanted. So I slept with him that night. Of course he rented a hotel room and played all nice and everything but…everything went so quickly. I didn't even have the chance to undress…he didn't kiss me and just came to it very quickly. It hurt…it hurt like hell, but I thought it's okay because I was so green when it came to Tommy. I thought he knew what he is doing. Well, it lasted for about three minutes what felt like an eternity, he finished and fell asleep. And I cried…and of course, he never spoke a word with me again", Carol smiled a little as she finished her story. "Oh God mom, what if this happens to me too?" Emery asked worried. "It won't. You are so much wiser than I was at your age. I didn't talk to my mom about anything. But you came to me and I know that you'll know when the time is right. And you also know if Ashley is serious about everything. Why don't you invite him over for dinner some time? I'd like to get to know him too", Carol answered. Emery smiled. "Yeah I don't know about that…dad won't be amused", she said and shook her head. "Ah, don't worry about dad…I'll talk to him", Carol smiled and finally got up again.
"Mom…I have another question", Emery said and again, Carol turned around. "Shall I go to the OB?" Emery asked and Carol nodded. "That's a good idea. If you want, I'll ask Dr. Fisher in the hospital", she answered and Emery nodded. "Alright…ah, come here little girl, let me hug you", Carol smiled and opened her arms for Emery. Emery smiled as she got up from her seat and hugged her mother tightly. "Thanks for talking to me", Carol whispered and stroke over her daughter's back. "Thanks for listening", Emery whispered back and smiled, knowing that she had the best mother in the whole world. "Okay…now I really need to finish the kitchen", Carol then said and they separated again. "Need help?" Emery asked and Carol nodded. "Sure, why not", she answered and handed Em a dish towel.
Emery started to dry the big pots that Carol washed. "So…when did you start to enjoy it?" she slowly asked and Carol chuckled. Of course she was ready to talk to her daughter about this topic, but she didn't really want to go into details. She never thought that Emery would be so interested in this. "Well, you get older, you learn things…that comes on its own" she smiled. "I hope that this isn't the only topic you're thinking about…you should focus on school too", she then continued and Emery nodded. "I know. There's only math left…don't worry", Emery answered and Carol nodded. She knew that her daughter didn't have a problem in school, but she felt that she only had Ashley on her mind.
They were silent for a minute and Carol almost jumped as her cell phone was suddenly ringing. "Well hello daughter! How's it going?" she smiled as she saw that Tess was calling. "Hey mommy! Everything's fine here, how are you?" Tess asked back. "I'm fine", Carol answered. "That's great…well, I wanted to ask you when you're going to Chicago", Tess said. "Next weekend, why?" Carol asked. "Can I come too? I know it's short-term, but I got the weekend off and I thought it would be nice to visit Uncle Mark and Aunt Elizabeth again, oh and also Rachel", Tess said excited. Carol twins always loved to go to Chicago to visit old friends. "Ah Tess, I think it won't be a problem. I'm sure your dad can manage that", Carol then answered smiling. "Thanks mom…and thanks to dad, I love you both", Tess said and Carol's heart melted again. "We love you too!" she answered. They said their good byes and hung up again.
"What did she want?" Emery asked. "She'll come to Chicago with us next weekend", Carol answered smiling. "That's great", Emery smiled. "So mom, what did you want to tell me earlier?" she asked and Carol looked at her. "What was I talking about…wait…oh, yes…your dress for prom night. Sue called earlier, she finished it and you can come to her tomorrow to try it on", Carol answered and Emery nodded smiling. "Can't believe it will be over…High School was so great", she said and Carol smiled. "I can't believe it either…I still remember bringing you to your first school day", she answered and sighed. Emery was so excited to go to school. She was smiling from one ear to the other, showing a hole in her mouth because of her fallen out teeth. Now she was almost ready to finish High School and start a new life in Chicago. No wonder it was hard to believe for parents to let their kids go. "So, you'll go with Ashley to the prom?" Carol asked to change the subject again. Emery nodded and smiled. "Yes. He asked me at the party. He's really a good guy, mom", she answered and Carol nodded smiling. "Will you tell dad about him?" Carol asked and Emery frowned."Sure not…I wanna live a little bit longer", she chuckled and shook her head. "Oh come on, dad won't kill you", Carol said and finally finished the dishes. "But he'll probably kill Ashley. I don't want to risk that", Emery smiled and Carol nodded. "Sooner or later he will find out", Carol answered and smiled too. "I know…I'll confront it when it's necessary", Emery chuckled again and Carol nodded her head.
"Hey handsome", Carol smiled as Doug arrived at home after his shift. "Hey beautiful", he smiled and kissed her shortly. "How was it?" she asked and put her hands around his neck. "Exhausting. I'm not used to busy ER shifts anymore", he chuckled. Carol started to play with his hair above his neck and smiled. "Well, I just wanted to take a hot bubble bath…wanna join me? It will do you good", she asked and Doug smiled. "Good idea…where are our kids?" he asked as he picked her up and started to go upstairs. Carol laughed and kissed him again. "Emery went to the cinema with Ashley; Liam and Mason are at the skate park with Tom", she chuckled and then stopped. Damn. She didn't want to let the cat out of the bag but it just slipped out. "Ashley…does she have a new friend?" Doug immediately asked because Emery never talked about Ashley. Carol cleared her throat. "Ah…to be honest, yes. It's her boyfriend. Ashley Cohen", she tried to smile. "W…what? Her boyfriend?" Doug asked surprised and let Carol down in front of the bathroom door. "Yes…but you don't know it from me. She wanted to tell you on her own…ask surprised when she tells you okay?" she looked at Doug with a furrowed brow and he sighed. "Damn…my little cherry berry has a boyfriend?" Doug asked sadly. Carol nodded and took his hand in hers. "She told me today. She's so happy…she's really in love", she answered. Doug looked down and nodded. Carol opened the door to the bathroom and went inside with him. "Ashley Cohen…I know him from somewhere", Doug said and Carol turned around to him again. "He's in Mason's team", Carol answered while she started to fill the bath tube with water and he nodded. "Doug? Stop thinking about him and Emery now. Everything is fine so far. Just try to relax okay?" she then said as she put her hands on his hips and looked at him. Doug smiled then and put a strandof hair behind her ear. "You're right. What can I say…she's a beautiful, young woman. It was only a matter of time when she would have her first boyfriend", he answered and Carol nodded smiling. "And she'll always be your little cherry berry", she said and stroke over his cheek. "I love you", Doug whispered. "And I love you", Carol answered and kissed him passionately before they both enjoyed a hot bath together.